Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin (ONA)

Fifteen years ago, Dark Schneider, a ruthless magician of immeasurable power, sought to conquer the world with an army led by his generals, the Four Divine Kings. However, he was defeated and sealed in the body of a newborn boy.

In the present day, the disbanded party of Dark Schneider has reformed with a macabre goal: to resurrect Anthrasax—the god of destruction that nearly annihilated the world four centuries ago—and establish a war-free society. To do so, the Four Divine Kings must break four seals located in four different kingdoms.

Targeted for its seal, the kingdom of Metallicana struggles to repel the army commanded by the Four Divine Kings. With hope dwindling, all eyes turn to the daughter of Metallicana's Grand Priest, Yoko Tia Noto. Not only is she aware that her adopted younger brother, Lucien Renlen, is Dark Schneider's prison of flesh, but she also knows the ritual to break the seal. Left with no other choice, Yoko successfully releases Dark Schneider, whose twisted personality has not changed over the years. As the fate of the world depends on where his allegiance lies, Yoko seems to be the only person who has some control over the powerful magician. But convincing Dark Schneider to turn against his old allies and protect those Yoko holds dear may prove to be an impossible feat.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Dark Schneider Main

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Tia Noto, Yoko Main

Kusunoki, Tomori Japanese

Arshes, Nei Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Gara Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Metallicana, Sheila Tuel Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Kai, Harn Supporting

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Kall-Su Supporting

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Di-amon Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Abigail Supporting

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Metallicana, Lars Ulu Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Miyagi, Souji Producer

Sasaki, Yuusuke Producer

Tsuruoka, Shinya Producer

Hayashi, Toshiyasu Producer

Reviews

Jun 30, 2022

MicahDarkFantasy

Recommended

Personally, I love this!
It is definitely my cup of tea and a breath of fresh air when it comes to adapting a manga into an anime. The title says it all, "Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy". It's a sign that it's either gonna be something that won't be for everyone's taste, or it will be something that some people will more than likely enjoy.
In my opinion, this anime definitely lives up to the title and I enjoyed every single episode from beginning to end. Dark Schneider is an excellent character and the other characters are what you might expect in an anime taking place in a ... medieval dark fantasy world where magic exists.
The fanservice didn't bother me that much and most of the "ecchi" moments are mostly in the end credits and a few are played for laughs. I've been excited for this anime ever since it was announced, and... I got exactly what I came for.
I love the story, the art style, the action scenes, the characters, and that kickass OP. If you're expecting a dark fantasy compared to the likes of Berserk and Attack on Titan... you might not take anything about this anime seriously.
But if you want a highly enjoyable dark fantasy anime with an edgelord protagonist and a story with heavy metal vibes, this anime is for you!
I loved this!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 30, 2022

Speech500

Mixed Feelings

A major selling point of this anime is the abundance of rippling abs and the flocks of women breasting boobily about. But sexy anime characters don't appeal to me, so I was only sticking around for the schlock.

And there's plenty of schlock here. It's got that unashamed old school corniness to it. Insanely dumb in an endearing way. The first episode was a joy to watch, the second was fun, and the third was okay. By the eighth, the fun had worn off and I wasn't sure why I was still watching.

The production value was... better than this show deserved. Surprisingly pretty animation, ... lovely use of light and colour. Great music, memorable and distinct character designs. I listened in English and I was happy with the dub. On the down side, the characters were weak and the plot bounced around like a pinball. It was badly written, but self-aware enough to be entertaining.

This is probably a show that would have benefitted from a weekly release. It's simple enough to remember across a season, and releasing one episode a week would have kept the silliness from getting stale.

Overall I give it a 5/10. Not good, not bad.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jul 12, 2022

kaiser_the_2nd

Not Recommended

This adaptation of Bastard isn't what you think it is. You might be looking at the title HEAVY METAL, DARK FANTASY and reading other reviews and expecting it to be the animated version of a Frank Frazetta painting with Rhapsody blasting in the background but no, that's not what you're in for.
What Bastard actually is, as funny as it may sound, is a dull, slow anime with extremely standard violence compared to other "violent" shows and constant fanservice that isn't even that explicit. This isn't that CONTROVERSIAL ANIME with SEX AND VIOLENCE that you heard about. In fact there's almost no sex at all, just ... groping.
But enough about that, let's talk about the technical aspects, shall we? For starters, the pacing is horrendous. You'll have many episodes where barely anything happens at all, with the characters standing still and occasionally casting a band reference spell. Sometimes we'll also have the old "characters have a very slow fight while someone watching comments on it" trope too. How exciting. How METAL.
The writing isn't anything special, but it doesn't try to be. Not being "deep" or "well written" isn't exactly the problem here, however. The problem is the writing fails miserably to make the flow of the show exciting. As I've said before when talking about pacing, this show drags a lot, and the writing doesn't help at all. The characters are dull and don't do much except for commenting in the current event. Most of them are just bland allies or enemies who eventually turn into allies or die after the most mid fighting scene you'll ever see.
The animation is... decent. It suffers from the dull plastic look a lot of modern anime does tho, but it doesn't actively bothers me. The choreography of the fights is what drags the animation down, as a lot of it is just boring and doesn't have much happening. You'll have decently well made effects of fire and magic and lightning and whatever the fuck while nothing exciting happens or the characters exchange a boring dialogue.
The music is, as par for the course, isn't jaw dropping either. Sounds like non-copyrighted 80s/90s power metal as you'd expect. It is pretty disappointing still, as something with a huge metal motif should at least try to stand out for its music and not just name dropping metal bands for attacks and locations.
In all, Bastard is bad, but not even the type of bad that would turn around into fun, it's just boring and not fun at all after the few first episodes where you realize it's going nowhere else. It sells itself as some hardcore badass metal show, but doesn't even have the balls to show nipples or real gore. Like I said, this isn't Rhapsody or Blind Guardian. Hell, it's not even Manowar.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin (ONA) Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 ) AcceleratorAngel - Jun 30, 2022	63 replies	by Legend1459 »» Sep 22, 2024 4:18 AM
	Poll: Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin (ONA) Episode 10 Discussion MegamiRem - Jul 1, 2022	10 replies	by Ba-Cii10 »» Jul 18, 2024 5:04 PM
	Poll: Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin (ONA) Episode 7 Discussion Illyricus - Jun 30, 2022	18 replies	by Ba-Cii10 »» Jul 18, 2024 3:14 AM
	Poll: Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin (ONA) Episode 2 Discussion Mapachecool999 - Jun 30, 2022	23 replies	by Ba-Cii10 »» Jul 17, 2024 4:03 PM
	Poll: Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin (ONA) Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) AcceleratorAngel - Jun 30, 2022	55 replies	by Ba-Cii10 »» Jul 17, 2024 3:59 PM